ifw Jena

On Wednesday, March 31, 2021, the State Secretary for Science and Higher Education of the Thuringian Ministry of Economy, Science and Digital Society visited ifw Jena to get to know the research institute and its work. During his visit, he presented the institute with two grant notifications for new investments, funded by the state of Thuringia.

With the funding from the Thuringian Ministry of Economics, Science and Digital Society, ifw Jena plans to further develop its research work in the fields of laser materials processing and additive manufacturing. On the other hand, the funds will be used to further develop the digital working environment for all colleagues and to make mobile working even safer and more flexible.

For this project, State Secretary Carsten Feller therefore personally handed over the grant notifications totaling €550,000 to the management of ifw Jena, after he had gained a comprehensive picture of the research work on site. In discussions and laboratory tours, he learned about the individual research areas of the institute, the current research projects and their innovative power for the Thuringian economy.

The investments planned with the grants include a new facility for powder bed-based additive manufacturing of metals. A system is planned in which the beam profile of the laser and the process atmosphere can be adjusted to better study the processing of high-performance materials. Similarly, a system for beam diagnostics is planned to investigate the results of beam shaping elements in laser beam welding and thus to be able to further develop the process for new materials.

In addition, ifw Jena will invest in a multifunctional axis system that can automate joining and cutting processes in line with the Industry 4.0 concept. This system will be used to map industrial production processes and to further develop them in future research projects in a very demand-oriented manner.

In addition, the grants will be used to make the digital workplaces at ifw Jena more mobile and secure and to create a healthy environment for all employees in the current pandemic. A redesign of the firewall and virus protection concept as well as an expansion of the backup system will enable colleagues to work in an uncomplicated and location-independent manner. For high-end design and simulation applications, a mobile workstation is also to be purchased to enable processes that require a lot of computing power to be carried out in mobile working.

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